Animal Adaptations: Evolution of Forms and Functions

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At present, traffic on NH 44 may not present a barrier to movement of chital and wild pig as we frequently encounter chital and wild pig roadkill at present traffic volumes. Gaur and sambar, on the other hand, are more vulnerable to barrier effect through avoidance behaviour of roadside habitat that reflects a lower tolerance to traffic disturbance 39, 40. Percentage chemosuppression of the aqueous stem bark extracts of Alstonia boonei (De wild) in mice infected with the Chloroquine- sensitive strain of plasmodium berghei (NK-65) Hematological profiles of mice infected with chloroquine sensitive Plasmodium berghei NK-65 treated groups (Group B-G), compared with uninfected experimental control group A The antimalaria potential and insecticidal activity of A. boonei has been reported recently ( Iyiola et al., 2011; Oigiangbe et al., 2007).

Plant material: The stem bark of A. boonei was collected from the wild in Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria and was identified at the Herbarium unit of the Department of Biological Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria. The specimen was documented and assigned voucher number 9001. The aqueous extract of A. boonei was formulated in distilled water corresponding to the dosages 100, 200, 400 and 800 mg kg -1 b.wt. of mice and the standard antimalarial Chloroquine (5 mg kg -1 b.wt. of mice) were also prepared.Laurance, W. F., Goosem, M. & Laurance, S. G. W. Impacts of roads and linear clearings on tropical forests. Trends Ecol. Evol. 24, 659–669. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2009.06.009 (2009). Jacobson, S. L., Bliss-Ketchum, L. L., de Rivera, C. E. & Smith, W. P. A behaviour-based framework for assessing barrier effects to wildlife from vehicle traffic volume 1. Ecosphere 7, 1–15 (2016). The present study reveals, for the first time in a tropical mammalian species, that besides aMT there also exists a diurnal rhythm in the sensitivity of the animal to exogenous MT injections. Pinealecomy and constant release of aMT and MT have been reported to cause atrophy of gonad in male European hamsters kept under long photoperiod ( Masson-Pevet et al., 1986). aMT implants have been reported to hasten recrudescence in male hamsters on short days (Turek et al., 1976). aMT implants cause testicular regression in long-day intact. male Peromyscus leucopus ( Johnston et al., 1980; Lynch et al., 1976) but do not retard testicular regression on short days ( Petterborg et al., 1981). Also varied results have been observed on the effects of photoperiod and melatonin on gonadal function of prepubertal and adult animals of Microtus and Peromyscus species. Although in the case of F. pennanti silastic capsule implants of aMT and MT lead to testicular regression in both intact and Px animals, ( Saxena, 1988) the effects of this continuous mode of MI administration under different photoperiods remains to be assessed. Sapan Saxena, Indian author, best known for his novel Finders, Keepers (Saxena novel)& UNNS-The Captivation

It has become clear that the pineal gland is necessary for the regulation of photoperiodic responses and that pineal melatonin may be responsible for transmitting daylength information ( Hoffmann, 1981b; Goldman, 1983; Hoffmann, 1985; Masson-Pevet et al., 1986). The extract prevented a drastic reduction in PCV, RBC and Hb values, features typical of the infection, malaria. This observation is supported by a report stating that anaemia is characterized by decreased values of RBC, Hb and hematocrit ( Aleksandro et al., 2009). In addition, we have also observed a decline in WBC counts in the different experimental groups of infected and treated mice when compared to experimental control mice. Table 4: Although a large number of seasonally breeding rodent species are known, most studies have centred on the elucidation of pineal function in the control of reproduction in case of temperate zone animals ( Pevet et al., 1987; Hoffmann, 1981b; Pevet et al., 1986). Nomadic/pastoral herdsmen are particularly affected by movement restriction since their farming activities are heavily reliant on movement across grasslands in search of natural resources. The ease of access to extension services and technical experts to troubleshoot farm problems is hampered especially in rural areas with inadequate access to digital service for ready access to information. Regular on-farm visitation by extension agents is therefore difficult to navigate considering that this may be a possible route for farm-to-farm transmission of diseases.Newmark, W. D., Boshe, J. I., Sariko, H. I. & Makumbule, G. K. Effects of a highway on large mammals in Mikumi National Park Tanzania. Afr. J. Ecol. 34, 15–31 (1996). Plant extracts have been very useful sources of medication for various disease conditions ( Ataman et al., 2006; Gill et al., 2012). The use of medical plant extracts which are rich sources of natural inhibitors and pharmacologically active compounds can be very promising especially in the area of chemotherapeutic-based approaches against malaria ( Gatsing et al., 2010). We calculated AVC probability ( P h) under different scenarios of traffic heterogeneity on 2-lane and 4-lane sections of the road using Eq. ( 1). The exposure risk in seconds i.e., the time on the road for which an animal would be vulnerable to collision as a function of road width and P h was also calculated. Influence of animal activity on AVC risk Arasan, V. T. & Koshy, R. Z. Headway distribution of heterogeneous traffic on urban arterials. J. Inst. Eng. (India) 84, 210–215 (2003).

Champion, H. G. & Seth, S. K. A Revised Survey of the Forest Types of India (Manager of Publications Govt. of India, New Delhi, 1968). Mitigation of roadkill and barrier effects of rapidly expanding road networks requires identification of road sections that may cause animal mortalities and barriers to animal movement, and species most likely to be involved in AVCs 8. Studies that take into account road, traffic and landscape characteristics along with species presence, activity and movement characteristics 8, 25, 32 have been able to predict mortality and barrier hotspots across road networks. However, the interaction among risk factors contributing to roadkill and barrier effects to inform mitigation strategies is largely missing from such models. Moreover, mitigation for rapidly expanding road networks should also be informed by road and traffic characteristics such as road types, and projections of traffic growth 33 and traffic composition or ‘heterogeneity’ that is the proportion of different vehicle types in a traffic flow 8. We placed vehicle input points at the beginning of the link, and data collection points midway along the road, and specified the hourly traffic volume at each vehicle input point. The average harmonic speed of traffic flow at each traffic volume and free flow speeds of different traffic components were selected as data collection measurement attributes (outputs of the simulation). Each simulation was run for 600 s (10 min) with 20 replicates. Simulation resolution of 10 time steps/second was set to maximize speed data collection at data collection points. Species characteristicsLangevelde, F. & Jaarsma, C. F. Using traffic flow theory to model traffic mortality in mammals. Landsc. Ecol. 19, 895–907 (2004). Gagnon, J. W., Theimer, T. C., Dodd, N. L., Boe, S. & Schweinsburg, R. E. Traffic volume alters elk distribution and highway crossings in Arizona. J. Wildl. Manag. 71, 2318–2323. https://doi.org/10.2193/2006-224 (2006).